Eddystone-URL in practice

An easy way to get started with beacons for proximity marketing is to use Eddystone-URL compatible beacons, that send out a URL (web link) continuously.

Eddystone-URL works great with CliqTags, by encoding a CliqTags URL (https://cqt.se/[Site ID]) in the beacon, using the configuration tool provided by the beacon vendor.

As CliqTags is a CMS, you can easily change the content and behavior over time without reconfiguring the beacons, and even redirect to a completely different site, similar to a link shortening service.

Here’s how you set up your phone for Eddystone-URL:

Android

Automatic

Normally Android will prompt you about activating Nearby Notifications when the first beacon is detected.

Check that Notify you when links are available is activated.

Swipe right a few times and click on Add Icon, so you get a Nearby icon on the desktop, for easier access.

Manual

If that didn’t happen, follow these steps (that do the same as the above, but in a more roundabout way):

Go to Settings / Google / Nearby.

If asked about Turn on Bluetooth & Location? choose Turn on.

Activate Nearby links available on the “cogwheel” page.

To simplify access to this page, choose Add to Home screen in the “three dots” menu.

Notifications

You will get a notification in the status bar when a beacon is detected, and when clicking on it the Nearby app will open.

iOS

Install and run Physical Web. It’s called PhyWeb once installed.

Click Proceed.

Then…

If there are any properly configured beacons nearby, they will show up with the site’s icon, title, possible description (see Meta data) and URL.

Click on one of them to see the home page of the site.

URLs

A URL can be maximum 18 bytes long for Eddystone-URL. As “https://” in “https://cqt.se/…” is shortened to one byte, the site ID can at the most be 10 characters long. There are ways around this, but 10 should be plenty for most uses. Also, by directly addressing CliqTags you avoid redirection and performance loss due to that.

Meta data

What you enter via Name, Description and Icon on the Site Edit page in CliqTags, will show when the site is detected. That way you can control the message the user gets.

Compared to CliqTags Spotter

CliqTags Spotter shows teasers for content in a more eye-catching and fully customisable way, than Nearby or Physical Web. It also supports geofencing, which enables it to be used both indoors and outdoors. Another difference is that Spotter works with iBeacon-compatible beacons, which means you can completely reconfigure the meaning of a beacon in CliqTags, and it supports iBeacon proximity levels, different content for entering/exiting regions etc.